media magazine "Fans and Fandom"

Being a fan - taking part in the shared activities and practices of a fan community- seems to have become an ordinary,everyday part of media use.

The author of fans (2005), cornel sandovos, offers up the following: "i define fandom as the regular, emotionally involved consumption of a given popular narrative or text."

like a ind of 'love',this emotional involvement may even be so intense as to go beyond an individual fans ability fully to put it into words and explain it. partly for this reason, and partly because fan love is often felt to have an authencity and a privacy for fans.

fans are highly critical and creative audiences; they don't just criticize their beloved shows or franchises when they fall short of expectation, they also make their own fan films, or write their own fan fiction.

fan authencity can also be a matter of getting early access to media content, with movie fans typically wanting to attend the earliest possible previews of screening and TV fans wanting to see YouTube clips or other on demand content ahead of official broadcast.

conventional media fan objects from brands that we are emotionally invested in; that we regularly and perhaps habitually consume; that we might have built up considerable knowledge about, and which may have become part of our self identities.

fandom and music have a particularly close relationship probably because, more than any other medium, music can evoke very strong emotions in its audiences. for most, music is little more than entertainment and individuals identify themselves as fans of certain genres. for others music is identified.

when fans become emotionally attached to a celebrity, this creates a form of obsession because they are drawn to the celebs and want to know the ins and outs of their lives. many people become fans because they can relate to them in some way. some people feel connected to the celebs which gives them an identity.

Also when celebrities are constantly shown to us through the media , we automatically become fond of them in some way and before we know it we find ourselves fans. whether we like to think we are or not. seeing them constantly becomes our norms.

Research: X Factor and Sweet 16

My Super Sweet 16 is an MTV reality series documenting the lives of teenagers who usually have wealthy parents that throw huge celebrations of their 16th, 18th and 21st birthday.

Teenagers tend to imitate celebrities.

The daily mail criticized “In an age of celebrity, where anyone desperate and rich enough can get their 15 minutes of fame, the series is a depressing indictment of our next generation’s goals and aspirations”.

people will do anything to become a celebrity. By not doing much to become a celebrity, it makes audiences feel closer to them; we can become a celebrity. This generates celebrity obsession because celebrities provide us with false representations of life and ultimately become the reality of our everyday lives.

Also shows such X Factor and Britain Got Talent give people hope and a chance to follow there dreams to become a celebrity. These shows are a gateway to become successful and a step closer to fame.

Research on Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama

• Many celebrities in the media landscape are seen as role models, for example Oprah Winfrey is a television host, actress, writer and producer and has also been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century
• Oprah is the most influential woman in the world. In the 2008 presidential election in the US, Oprah was publicly authorized to a political candidate for the first time, hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama and appearing with him at campaign events. It is controversially believed that her support was crucial to him winning the Democratic nomination and the presidency itself.
• This goes to show how celebrities help other celebrities, generate a fan base, which then leads to obsession as people become intrigued with them and more involved in what they do.
• a woman as powerful as oprah can turn anyone into sales blockbuster

Telegraph: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3026893.ece

oprah : oprah and barack

Research on rihanna and chris brown

We feel a personal relationship with these celebrities because we may be able to relate with their life’s in some way for instance when Rhianna was domestically abused by her ex boyfriend Chris Brown many women and men were able to relate to Rhianna and Chris as they may have been going through the same issue. Chris disclosed in the Tyra Bank Show in 2007 that “some people, their families go through domestic violence and stuff like that. I don’t want to mention the persons name but there was somebody who hurt my mum, me having to deal with that from the age of 7 all the way through to 13, me seeing that and being visually abused by it – it affected me.” Many people feel connected to Chris Brown even though what he has done is remarkably wrong, but many abusers may have gone though the same thing as kids. Also many abused woman felt connected to Rhianna as they have also faced domestic violence. Rhianna has influenced many women to speak out instead of keeping silent. Her advise to young girls affected by domestic violence is “don’t react of off love forget love, come out the situation and look at it third person of what it really is love is blind”.

when chris abused rihanna the audience became torn between the two, they were both highly popular with their audience, they were both young and many people can relate to them. eventhough what chris done was significantly wrong, his fan based still remained high. however some audience wer extremly shocked and did not feel the same way about chris as they once did.

institutions wer very much involved with chris and rihanna's story as they are well known in the industry and its what the audience wanted to know about but why?

when a celebertity has high status and poularity, we become involved in their life and pretty much want to know everything about them. the more we see and hear of them the more we want to know.

Telegraph : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4582574/Chris-Brown-and-Rihanna-Singer-condemns-domestic-violence.html

Youtube: Rihanna interview on ABC talking chris brown beating

Research: Nikki from Big Brother - Rise to fame

A celebrity such as Nikki Graham from Big Brother best known for her temper tantrums was given her own reality TV show after leaving the house, titled Princess Nikki. She was also the 12th most ‘written about’ person of 2006 in the UK, according to a channel 4 poll. Nikki has now become one of the UK’s most talked about celebrity because she is known for her temper tantrums and bubbly personality. She has been constructed by the media to be a celebrity. She now becomes a celebrity, through institutions, advertising and magazines. Her popularity is not only driven by institutions but by audiences to. The more we see celebrities through the media, the more we want to see them and our demand increases for them. This gives them their celebrity image. It is said that “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of material for e.g. advertising and magazines etc

Nikki Grahame rose to fame on the popular reality TV show Big Brother. Nikki described herself as special because she has so many special qualities. Its the special qualities that have made her by far the most successful of all the BB7 HM's.

her rise to fame tarted from a realtiy tv programme and from then the audience has created her popularity , which how her fame began. the more we see nikki on our tv screens the more involved we become woth her and the more intrigued we are . whiech then starts celebrity obsession.

Essay: First Draft

My critical investigation is going to focus on celebrity obsession. I will be investigating on the influences, status and power of celebrities on fans, audience and society. I will be looking closely as whether institutions create celebrity obsession or if the celebrities gain status and power to create their own image. The media is present everywhere we go and in everything we do, we can’t escape the media and we can’t live without it. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. Due to the institutions involved and once again the image created of them not only through institutions but audience as well. The way in which the media portrays text to us automatically becomes our reality. When texts are released to us by the media on a daily basis it becomes our norm. This is how celebrity obsession begins.

What is a celebrity? A celebrity is someone who is famously recognised in a society or culture. A celebrity is someone who has the quality of being widely honoured and acclaimed. Being a celebrity does not mean having the fame, glamour and lifestyle; its being recognised for something they have done.

A celebrity such as Nikki Graham from Big Brother best known for her temper tantrums was given her own reality TV show after leaving the house, titled Princess Nikki. She was also the 12th most ‘written about’ person of 2006 in the UK, according to a channel 4 poll. Nikki has now become one of the UK’s most talked about celebrity because she is known for her temper tantrums and bubbly personality. She has been constructed by the media to be a celebrity. She now becomes a celebrity, through institutions, advertising and magazines. Her popularity is not only driven by institutions but by audiences to. The more we see celebrities through the media, the more we want to see them and our demand increases for them. This gives them their celebrity image. It is said that “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of material for e.g. advertising and magazines etc.

A celebrity image is not just his or her texts, but the promotion of those texts, public appearances, interviews and biographies. Their image comes from what people say or write about him/her. Not only do celebrities make themselves recognized through promotion, public appearances and websites but also through what the audience thinks of them through negative and positive criticism. For instance on YouTube audiences have the choice to comment on a video and give there feed back.
Justin Beiber a talented boy discovered first by fans on YouTube then Usher a well known RnB singer. He is now one of the youngest millionaire musicians. A subscriber on YouTube commented “I like Justin because he has the world looking at him and he is not in drugs or partying like insane. He has a very supportive mom. Congrats Justin and stay humble as you are:” Comments from these fans generate celebrity status and popularity.

We have become infatuated with celebrities in today’s world that the number of people we know in the ‘artificial world’ – actors, singers etc is much larger than the number of people we know in the real world. People feel as if they know a celebrity because of the way they are portrayed to us on TV. We believe that we know these celebrities because they have become a part of our everyday lives through the media. Were drawn to know more about celebrities because of a kind of personal connection we may feel with them; the relationship we have with a celebrity is easier than many of our real life relationships. Yet, our connection to a celebrity can bring us closer to those around us.
Not only do we love celebrities, but many of us want to be celebrities. Our culture has emphasized the importance of fame, and many people are desperate for it. We think it is a quick fix to our lives, and that when were discovered; all our dreams come true. Programme such as x factor and Britain’s Got Talent

We feel a personal relationship with these celebrities because we may be able to relate with their life’s in some way for instance when Rhianna was domestically abused by her ex boyfriend Chris Brown many women and men were able to relate to Rhianna and Chris as they may have been going through the same issue. Chris disclosed in the Tyra Bank Show in 2007 that “some people, their families go through domestic violence and stuff like that. I don’t want to mention the persons name but there was somebody who hurt my mum, me having to deal with that from the age of 7 all the way through to 13, me seeing that and being visually abused by it – it affected me.” Many people feel connected to Chris Brown even though what he has done is remarkably wrong, but many abusers may have gone though the same thing as kids. Also many abused woman felt connected to Rhianna as they have also faced domestic violence. Rhianna has influenced many women to speak out instead of keeping silent. Her advise to young girls affected by domestic violence is “don’t react of off love forget love, come out the situation and look at it third person of what it really is love is blind”.

Our relationship with them can get complicated, because we might feel an illusory intimacy with not only the star but there character too. The characters of shows such as Friends become incredibly familiar because they are with us all the time. Jennifer Aniston said that when Friends was a prime time show, people on streets would approach her and yell at her for something disagreeable her character Rachel did. In the media saturated world the difference between reality and media representations, becomes blurred to us.

The power of celebrities to move and change the world, events, political views and fundraising campaigns has threatened institutions. Technological and media changes have happened so quickly that it has given birth to our celebrity culture in a short period of time.

Many celebrities in the media landscape are seen as role models, for example Oprah Winfrey is a television host, actress, writer and producer and has also been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century. To some Oprah is the most influential woman in the world. In the 2008 presidential election in the US, Oprah was publicly authorized to a political candidate for the first time, hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama and appearing with him at campaign events. Barack Obama has used Oprah as his key to the media landscape as she is highly recognised by the audiences that Barack was targeting. Oprah is a role model who inspires many so her interest in Barack will therefore lead to an increase in his popularity. It is controversially believed that her support was crucial to him winning the Democratic nomination and the presidency itself. This goes to show how celebrities help other celebrities, generate a fan base, which then leads to obsession as people become intrigued with them and more involved in what they do.

This could be linked with the parasocial theory this is when one party knows a great deal about the other but the other does not. People seek out media content because they are motivated by peoples in this case celebrities goals, needs, desires or preferences.

The mass media were once thought of as separate, as reflecting society , as modern, the media showed us how society was, now society and the mass media are so closely connected that society has become subsumed within the mass media; society and the media has merged together to show us how we should live. “We only accept reality through TV and other simulacra”, many of us believe that what the media portrays to us is how we do live life- it’s our reality. So because celebrities are living the ‘glamorous’ lifestyle we should also do the same. When in reality the media texts are not ‘real’.

My Super Sweet 16 is an MTV reality series documenting the lives of teenagers who usually have wealthy parents that throw huge celebrations of their 16th, 18th and 21st birthday. They tend to imitate celebrities or try to be a celebrity. The daily mail criticized “In an age of celebrity, where anyone desperate and rich enough can get their 15 minutes of fame, the series is a depressing indictment of our next generation’s goals and aspirations”. The crippling excesses of fame and capitalism that have come to symbolise our society. The rise of the relationship between people that is mediated by image is found in the emptiness of a celebrity, people will do anything to become a celebrity. By not doing much to become a celebrity, it makes audiences feel closer to them; we can become a celebrity. This generates celebrity obsession because celebrities provide us with false representations of life and ultimately become the reality of our everyday lives.

The direct communication channel between artist and fans means that the artists have much more control over material that is released to the public, and ultimately more control over the image they convey. A number of artist now promote themselves through websites such as MySpace or Twitter, they often release snippets of there tracks, post pictures and often update statuses to keep fans informed of what they are currently doing. The idea that artist releases their material to the public they have some control on how people react to them or how they are represented to their fans.

“Since the media are more or less omnipresent in all our lives, this means we are all influenced to some extent by what we view, listen to and read. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. They are constantly being followed by paparazzi and on the front covers of magazines and newspapers. This makes us some what involved in the celebrities’ life through what we read about them and how they are pictured. Teenagers are generally influenced by celebrities either positively or negatively. Institutions use celebrities to advertise their products and to influence young adults especially girls to focus on their appearance. Heat magazine has pages such as ‘star styles find it’, ‘star stalker’ and ‘one week for hot look’, Heat know what readers want and that is to have an ideal image of a celebrity. So for readers to look like their idol or to have the same clothing as a celebrity, they start believing that they are a celebrity. The Sun has a page called ‘Bizarre’ that gives an insight on celebrity lifestyle and gossip on a daily basis.

The media industry and institutions have the power of how an image is portrayed to us. They have the ability to make something bad look exceptionally good or vice versa. Rhianna’s video ‘Rude Boy’ has a negative influence on girls her lyrics “come here rude boy, boy is you big enough take it, take it” has sexual connotations and could influence to take part in sexual activities. Even though many of us may not agree with her lyrics, what she says does not effect how we feel towards her, yet she still remains popular with the audience and fans. Her appearance on mass media text such as the X Factor and on the covers of magazines makes her remarkably popular in audience, the way she is portrayed in each text, reflects a different portrayal of her. Wish is why the obsession towards her remains the same.

Justin Beiber movie trailer has inspired the youth to be who they want to be and never give up. Being an ordinary kid who does normal teenage things, whose fame was found through YouTube has been an inspiration. A fan comments ‘he came from a small town, he’s an inspiration he gives us hope”. The trailer emphasizes that you should never give up, you can always be who you want to be, never give up and should ‘never say never’. Many young people see Justin as a role model as he was once a normal kid, but grew to fame at such a young age. The trailer quotes ‘they said it would never happen but you never stop believing.

It can be seen that celebrity obsession starts from the way celebrities are portrayed to us in the media

Mest 4; Essay Plan

INTRODUCTION

My Independent study is focused on celebrity obsession. I will be investigating on the influences, status and power of celebrities, on Fans, audience and society. My research will be focused on the three platforms E-media, Print and Broadcast showing how media texts represent celebrities and society obsession of celebrities. I will be looking closely as whether institutions create celebrity obsession or if the celebrities gain status and power to create their own image will discuss theories such as postmodernism, uses and gratifications theory to support my investigation. (Ml, I ,I)

Celebrity recognition in the 21^st century (I ,N) POSTMODERNISM

• ‘We only accept reality through TV and other simulacra'

Comment: Many of us believe that what the media portrays to us is how we should live life - it’s our reality. So because celebrities are living the 'Glamorous ' lifestyle we should also do the same. When in reality it’s not real. some people don't know the difference between reality and the media world so they generally tend to think they can do the same thing people in the media do.

E.g. My Super Sweet 16 is an MTV reality series documenting the lives of teenagers who usually have wealthy parents that throw huge celebrations for their 16^th, 18th and 21^st Birthday. They tend to imitate celebrities or try to be a celebrity. The daily mail criticized "In an age of celebrity, where anyone desperate and rich enough can get their 15 minutes of fame, the series is a depressing indictment of our next generation's goals and aspirations" displaying "the crippling excesses of fame and capitalism that have come to symbolise our society”. (Postmodernism (hyper reality), Ideologies)

'A celebrity’s image is not just his or her films, but the promotion of those films, public appearances, interviews and biographies. Their image is also what people say or write about him/her'

Comment: Not only does a celebrity make themselves known but they are also known through what the audience think of them from positive and negative criticism. A celebrity gets their image recognised through promotion and advertising, public appearances and websites.

• For e.g. Justin Beiber a talented boy discovered first by fans on YouTube then Usher a well known RnB singer. He is now one of the youngest millionaire musicians. The New York Times quoted “Usher, whom the singer handpicked to be Justin’s manager and ‘swagger coach’ – sharpening his moves, his attitudes and his wardrobe; Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated. (Ideologies and institutions)

• http://www.mediaknowall.com/Popular%20Music/popstartheory.html
• A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])
• E.g.: Nikki Graham from Big Brother best known for her temper tantrums was giver her own reality show after leaving the house, titled princess Nikki. She also appeared on many TV appearances such as the weakest link and 8 out of 10 Cats. She was also the 12^th most ‘written about’ person of 2006 in the UK, according to a channel 4 Poll. She has a column for OK Hot stars magazine and has written a book about her struggles with anorexia.
• Comment: Nikki has now become one of the UK’S most talked about celebrities because she is known for her temper tantrums and bubbly personality. She has been CONSTRUCTED by the media to be a celebrity. She now becomes a celebrity, through institutions, advertising and magazines. This has given her a celebrity IMAGE. (I, I and R)

• ‘since the media are more or less omnipresent in all of our lives, this means we are all influenced to some extent by what we view, listen to, browse, play and read’
• Comment: Violence, sex and drugs, plastic surgery, reality, being successful the media are present everywhere we go and in everything that we do. All of us are influenced through the media in some way. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. They are constantly being followed by paparazzi and on the front covers of magazines and newspapers. This makes us some what involved in the celebrities’ life through what we read about them and how they are pictured. Teenagers are influenced by celebrities negatively. This could be because adult obsession with sex is exposed onto the children minds. Celebrities advertise media images that influence young adults especially girls to focus on their appearance.
• Eg: Heat magazine has pages such as ‘star style find it’ ‘star stalker’ and ‘one week for hot looks’ heat know what readers want and that is to have the ideal image of a celebrity. So for readers to look like their idol or to have the same clothing as a celebrity. They automatically think that they are a celebrity. The Sun (Newspaper) has a page called’ Bizarre’ that gives an insight on celebrity lifestyle and gossip on a daily basis.

Another example is Music Videos as they either influence people both negatively and positively for instance:

Band aid charity song has a positive influence on people as a group of celebrities released a song in order to raise money for people in Africa with Aids.

Rhianna’s Video - ‘Rude boy’ has a negative influence on girls her lyrics “Come here rude boy, boy is you big enough Take it, take it”. Her lyrics are sexual and could influence girls to take part in sexual activities. (ML, R, A, S)

Celebrity influences Through (N, I,S,H,E,P)

• Moral panic

'verbal aggression is a form of aggression which means that studies which are interpreted by most people are being about the representations of physical violence may actually be more concerned with the use of swear words . This is related to violence.’

Comment: The media often uses bad language; this is shown in music videos or films. The verbal aggression used in theses text influence people especially the younger generation to use these words. For instance films such as Adulthood, is aimed at the youth aged between 16+ , the language used in the film is what people of that demographic are unfamiliar with. (ML)

• 'The media concerns itself with the factors that influence how we look at images of our world. Images are created in order to communicate a message'

Comment: the media industry, institutions have the power of how an image is portrayed to us. They can make something bad look exceptionally good or vice versa. These images are shown through magazines, newspapers, films, video games etc. for e.g. Sex, drugs, alcohol, violence can be glamorised. This links to Marxism as institutions make and produce the product. They also mentally make up our decisions. (institutions)

• http://thinkexist.com/quotation/celebrities-can-have-a-positive-influence-on-our/1255188.html

‘Celebrities can have a positive influence on our life, with positive messages. They can be very helpful in terms of increasing awareness and decreasing stigma about many problems, including health problems that might otherwise not get the attention they need. ‘

Comment: celebrities have some positive influence over us, they can be very helpful, whether it’s a boost in confidence or the can make us feel good by the way we act or where were from. Most celebrities are seen as inspirations, some are from poor backgrounds and have made it big in the industry. The inspire there fans to believe that anything is possible.

• For e.g. Angelina Jolie has adopted 3 children and JLS has launched a condom range to promote safe sex and healthy living.
• Barack Obama ; first black president motto “yes we can”

Celebrity obsession is a form of worship.

• We are inundated with celebrity culture in today’s world, and as Lawrence says, “The number of people we know in the ‘artificial world’–actors, singers, sportspeople, TV hosts – is much larger than the number of people we know in the real world.”. People feel as if they know a celebrity because of the way they are portrayed to us on TV. Once again we believe that we know these celebrities because they have become a part of our everyday lives through the media. We feel connected to them in some way. (uses and gratification theory; diversion, personal relationships, personal identity. Postmodernism. ideologies ).
• We’re drawn to know more about celebrities because of a kind of personal connection we may feel with them; the relationship we have with a celebrity (all one-sided) is easier than many of our real life relationships. Yet, our connection to a celebrity can bring us closer to those around us.

E.g. Keeping up with the Kardashians (reality TV show )the audience may feel connected to them because the reality show series how they live their life together and the normal things they do.

• Not only do we love celebrities, but many of the teens and twenty-year-olds today want to be celebrities. Our culture has emphasized the importance of fame, and many people are desperate for it. We think it is a quick fix to our lives, and that when we’re discovered; all our dreams will come true.

E.g. TV shows such as the X Factor and Britain’s got Talent.

• Religion: celebrities have now become Gods and goddesses. They are worshipped people which is wrong. Fans have become so obsessed that they are treating these celebrities like humans. When in fact they are like any other normal person. (ideologies and values)

Celebrities status/power – fans and audience

• 'The direct communication channel between artist and fans means that the artist have much more control over material that is released to the public, and ultimately more control over the image the convey.’
• Comment: A number of artist now promote themselves through websites such My space or Twitter, they often release snippets of there tracks, post pictures and often update statuses to keep fans informed of what they are currently doing. So the idea that artist releases their material to the public they control how people react to them or how they are represented to their fans.

• TV stars: our relationship with them can get complicated, because we might feel an illusory intimacy with not only a star but with their character too. The characters of shows such as friends become incredibly familiar because they are with us all the time. Jennifer Aniston said that when friends was a prime time show, people on the streets would approach he and yell at her for something disagreeable her character Rachel did. (ideologies and values, institutions, ML,S,E,P,H)

Conclusion: Summary of my main points linking them to my independent studies and theories.

Media is present everywhere we go and in everything we do , we can’t escape the media and we can’t live without it. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. Due to the institutions involved and the image created of them through the audience and institutions.

The way in which the media portrays text to us automatically becomes our reality. When texts are released to us by the media on a daily basis it becomes our norm.(M,A,R,S)